“Yeah, I believe him,” J.J. Barea said. “I talked to him before games or something like that and I think he’s a really good guy. His apology, he means well, so I got no problems with it.”

He said earlier, ” It’s good that he apologized. I think he’s a great guy. I think, he’s a pro, he doesn’t want to hurt me. I think he just got frustrated in the moment. I think that was just a bad moment in his life where he just wasn’t thinking and he took it out on me. Like he said, I’m glad I’m OK and nothing happened.”

If you missed Andrew Bynum’s apology, this is what he said.

“I want to apologize for my actions at the start of the fourth quarter. They don’t represent me, my upbringing, this franchise or any of the Laker fans out there that want to watch us and want us to succeed. Furthermore, and more importantly, I want to actually apologize to J.J. Barea for doing that. I’m just glad that he wasn’t seriously injured in the event. And all I can say is, I’ve looked at (the replay), it’s terrible and it definitely won’t be happening again.”

Sensing the Los Angeles Lakers on the verge of becoming the first victims of a NBA playoffs sweep under Phil Jackson’s regime, Andrew Bynum took a cheap elbow shot at Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea sending him in a fetal position on the court.

Andrew Bynum was ejected from the game and took off his Lakers jersey as he walked off the court. The NBA fined Andrew Bynum $25,000 and suspended him for five games at the start of next season resulting in $677,272 of his salary, according to the Los Angeles Times.